Spewing gas/oil ahhh

[Charlie1717]

So, I went out to my bike (1972 CB750) one beautiful day last week.  I hopped on and fired her up. She was doing just fine. I go to put the bike in gear and it lurches... hmm weird I had the clutch lever pulled in. So, issue number one, my clutch cable decided to stop working. It doesn't retract when I pull it in (what should I look for?)

Problem 2! During this time of annoyance my bike was idling and it spewed out a mixture of gas and oil from around the crank. After thinking about it I realized I left the petcock on the "on" position for several days. I don't want to risk hydro-lock but I don't really know what I need to do in this situation..

Any advice would be great! I'm not very familiar with bikes but I have been working on cars for many years.



Thanks in advance!

[LukeM]

Moving this posting to the appropriate group.  The Repairs and Write-Ups are for techniques and how-tos. This is more of a request to help troubleshoot.

Luke M

[sgtslag]

1)  Check the clutch cable to see if it is stuck.  You can also play with the lever, on top of the transmission, which the cable attaches to, to make sure that rotates normally -- hook up a Vise-Grip Pliers to move it.

2)  Check the oil to see if it is over-filled -- with gasoline!  Drain, change, both oil and filter.  Usually if the fuel petcock is left on/open, gasoline will drip onto the top of the transmission, seeking the lowest point...  Which is the oil pan beneath the transmission on DOHC models; not sure if it will collect in the transmission, on your SOHC, or not, but be sure to check it.

Report back with what you find.  Cheers!  

[shinyribs]

What Sarge said. The fuel should have overflowed out of the float bowl overflow tubes,but anything is possible. If the oil coming from around the crank was that thin ,and smelled like gas, I'd change it just for good measure.  Where exactly did it come out?

Also,you could pop the cover off behind the kick starter and check to see if that end of the clutch cable is moving. If it is then it might just be out of adjustment somehow. But thats a cheap easy fix! Cable's are ~$18 and adjustments are free! Good luck bud.

[Charlie1717]

Thanks guys! Sorry for putting it in the wrong section!

Anywho, I checked the clutch cable and it is working correctly just not retracting, I made it as tight as possible and it still was loose. What is weird is I drove it just fine maybe a week earlier and parked it, then the next time it wasn't working. I may just need to replace the cable (hopefully!)

As for the oil/gas, I'll have to get a better look at it now that the weather is better. I'll start with draining everything and take a look at what sarge and Shiny said.

[shinyribs]

Charlie, in that same cover behind the kick starter there should a return spring that hooks to the clutch actuating arm. Might check to see if it snapped or fell off.

[Charlie1717]

Yeah it was still there.... It may just be weak... I'm wondering if when I put my bike cover off if maybe I depressed the clutch for a long time and stretched the spring??? Now I'm just fishing for answers ;)

[shinyribs]

Any luck yet,Charlie?

[Charlie1717]

I'm hoping to look at it today, I had to go down to Nashville this weekend so I haven't had a chance to look into it.

I'll keep you all posted! Fingers Crossed it is something dumb!

[Charlie1717]

Well she is all fixed up and running again.

Had to replace the floats and needles. Oil Change. New Spark Plugs.
She has been running fine today, I drove it maybe 30 miles today and all seemed well.

As for the clutch cable. I tightened it all the way and was able to get a bit more life from it, however I picked up a new one that I will replace in the near future.